


The Past Comes Back

by Sitalia



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-01
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 20:16:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sitalia/pseuds/Sitalia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward, Jasper and Peter all fought in the Southern Vampire Wars, but what they didn't realize is their mate was there too. Follow them as they meet her face-to-face for the first time, but just as their happiness starts the world around them will interfere. Not really for anyone who likes Jacob/Leah. **I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT**</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Past

**(JPOV)**

Ugh, lunch was my least favorite time of the day. Being in the same room with my natural food source while doing nothing was torture. This tiny little room that held about half of the schools population and we had to be in here. It was for the rest of my family as well, but none of them would ever admit it. They couldn’t lie to me though. I could feel when their bloodlust would heighten from the “children” in the room. I was sitting with my brothers, Peter and Edward, and we were discussing what to do this weekend. We were the only three that were not mated. It got tiring in a house full of mated couples. Edward could read everyone’s mind during their “intimate” time and I could feel all of their emotions.

“Did either of you smell the other vampire that is in the school today?” Peter asked us with a raised eyebrow.

“Yea, I did, but I haven’t seen her.” Edward said. I’d smelled it too and it smelled somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Edward must have read my thoughts because the next question from his mouth had me thinking.

“Could the person have been human when you smelled them or could we have been fighting at the time and your memory just doesn’t place the scent with the person?” He asked. I guess it was a possibility, but what would they be doing here?

“Maybe the same thing we are.” Edward said, but didn’t get to continue because the doors opened and the most beautiful creature I had ever seen walked in. She was wearing black leather high heeled boots, black leather pants that fit her like a glove, a teal corset with black lace with a half-cropped leather jacket. Her hair brushed the top of her ass and was almost black with red highlights.

“God she’s gorgeous. I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as her.” Peter whispered. I had to agree. I wanted her to look at me, but I couldn’t explain why. Her scent hit me then and it caused me to harden and growl, but I wasn’t the only one. Peter and Edward followed with similar growls and both of them had lust coursing through their bodies. Her head whipped around to look at the three of us. Her eyes went wide as they landed first on Edward, then Peter and then myself. I noticed then that her eyes had gone black as she looked us over. My first thought was that she was frightened by our scars, but then I felt her emotions. She was feeling recognition, lust, love, dread and a slight touch of fear, but not the fear that she should have felt when looking at all three of us. We were scarred soldiers, but this beauty had no need to fear us. We wouldn’t hurt her. I heard a whisper come from Edward.

“Our mate.” He said as he went to stand up. I could feel the pull and from their emotions I knew my brothers did too. I turned back to the beauty and felt out her emotions again. She was feeling the pull, but there was something else there. I wanted to go to her, but I wasn’t sure if she’d run or not.

“Come here sweetheart.” Edward whispered so only the vampires in the room could hear. Our sibling’s emotions went haywire when he said that. Of course Rosalie was pissed off at first, but then she caught sight of the beauty and figured out she was a vampire. She hesitated for just a moment before coming over to us. Once she got close enough Edward pulled her into his lap which caused the rest of our family to raise their eyebrows and look at him funny.

“What? She’s my mate and I’m damn well going to touch her.” He hissed out.

“She’s our mate too bro, but you don’t see us practically molesting her in front of the entire school.” Peter growled. I was only half paying attention because I was looking at what was exposed of her arms, neck and the side of her face.

“Who put those scars on you Darlin’?’ I asked her barely keeping my growl below human hearing.

“This is not the place Major, but let’s just say that you, Captain, Sergeant and I have about the same reputation in the South. The scars you see aren’t even a tenth of what I have.” The mysterious beauty stated. She didn’t look ashamed of the scars she held unlike us.

“That’s because I’m not Major. Every scar I have means I survived when I was put into a situation that was either my life or someone else’s. That includes outside of wars as well, if you get my meaning.” She said while raising one of her eyebrows. I got her meaning too which meant she had been tasked to do the same thing the three of us had. This only fueled my anger and my family knew it because I started projecting. Emmett put his hand on my arm to get my attention.

“Why don’t we get out of here? It’s not like we’ll miss anything and I’m sure our parents will want to meet the newest member.” He said while getting up to throw away his tray.

“Can we have your name Angel? You seem to know who we are, but we are at a slight disadvantage.” Peter asked while bowing his head. Always the good Southern gentleman.

“Of course you can baby. The names Isabella. Most people know me by General however in the South, but we’ll leave that until after we meet the parentals, okay?”

“Sure Angel. That’s not a problem. Why don’t we get out of here before Major here starts a riot? We don’t want that happening, now do we?” Peter stated and their banter was already making me feel better, but I really did need to get out of there.

We all got up and threw away our props not wanting anyone to get suspicious we took different routes getting out of the school, but the three of us stuck close to Isabella until we got out into the parking lot. What I saw about made me want to cum in my pants. It did make all three of us groan. Next to our Ducati Superbike 1199 Panigale’s was a Ducati Superbike 848 EVO Corse SE in black and blue. I couldn’t wait to see her on it, but if this is what the bike did to me I’d hate to see what her being on it would do to me.

“Come on boys. Let’s get out of here before all three of you have an accident.” Isabella said while giggling. God that was the most beautiful sound in the world. She threw her leg over the side of the bike and placed her helmet on before she started it. Just seeing her on it had bad thoughts running through my head and from the look on Edward’s face he wasn’t protesting those thoughts at all.

“Hell no I’m not protesting those thoughts because the same damn ones are running through my head.” He whispered, but I knew Isabella still heard it over the purr of the engine.

“Are we leaving or what? I’m not sitting here for my health. I’m also not the innocent angel you think I am. Lead the way boys!” She yelled. With that the three of us got onto our bikes and followed Rose’s BMW out of the parking lot towards our house.

As we pulled into the driveway we saw Carlisle and Esme standing on the porch waiting for us. They seemed surprised to see a fourth motorcycle pulling up the driveway, but waited until we were all in the house to start the questioning.

We all walked into the living room and started to sit down. This time it was Peter that pulled Isabella into his lap.

“What am I? A rag doll?” She said sounding a little pissed and from her emotions I could tell she was feeling a bit used. She pushed his hands off of her and went to sit in a chair across the room causing all three of us to whimper since we had all sat on the couch to be close to her.

“Come back here sweetheart. Please?” Edward whimpered out. God this mating pull was turning us all into a bunch of pansies. Edward just nodded, but there was nothing we could do and I actually didn’t mind it. I didn’t think my brothers did either because we’d all been hoping to meet our mate.

“I don’t think so. I’ve got to get this story done and I’m not going to be able to do that sitting by the three of you. None of you are going to like it. My name is Isabella Marie Addison. I was turned in 1705 by Benito down in Mexico.” At this Edward, Peter and I hissed. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I didn’t like it and I knew no one else was going to like it either. Benito ties into our past directly.

“My sisters for lack of a better term were Maria, Nettie and Lucy. When those three escaped Benito took it out on me. I was dismembered and scattered around Mexico City for three years. By the time I was put back together I was beyond reason. The only thing I had in mind was blood and revenge on those three because it was their fault I was dismembered in the first place. I helped Benito for a while until Maria and her army came for him. That was my first glimpse of the three of you. The General actually went up against the Major, but we never got to finish our little fight.” She said as she smirked at me. I knew I recognized her scent from somewhere.

“You’re the only vampire that has went up against the Major, bitten him and lived to tell the tale.” Peter said with a small grin on his face.

“Yes, well, the Major is the only vampire to go up against me and live whether they’ve bitten me or not. Anyway, you defeated the army and I retreated knowing that Maria wasn’t there and you killed Benito. Unfortunately, I was wounded and needed somewhere to recuperate. Damn Carlito found me three towns over. Bastard decided he’d use me against Maria. I let my need for revenge get the best of me, but he never ended up attacking her which just pissed me off even more. I escaped from him only to be caught by the bitch herself after you three took off. She did her usual, but I refused to help her until she captured my brother. My brother was turned by the Volturi when they were scouting the area after Maria, Nettie, Lucy and I were turned. She knew if she had him then I would do whatever she wanted which I did until three years ago. She wanted my brother and I to track you three down. The night before we were to leave on our mission we destroyed all of their newborns and fled, but before we could leave Maria swore she’d track all five of us down.” She stated before turning her head to the window.

From her emotions I could tell this affected her more than she wanted anyone to know. I went over to her, picked her up and sat her down in my lap. I began nuzzling the side of her neck and purring trying to calm her down.

“Thank you Major. It’s just…” She started, but her breathe hitched in her throat. “My brother disappeared six months ago. I’m afraid she’s got him again. I need to go back down there and find out. If she hasn’t got him then the Volturi might which is a far lesser evil than her having him, but I need to know if he’s okay.” Just thinking about her being back down in the South scared the shit out of me. My brothers didn’t seem to like it either.

“Darlin’ I don’t want you back down there. There’s a reason the three of us don’t go back down there. We don’t want that life again and I definitely don’t want that life for you again.” I said while raising my head to look at my brothers. It looked like they agreed with me as they came over to the chair and sat down by her feet.

“Sweetheart that life sucked. I know you know this, but why risk going back down there?” Edward asked her. He really did love her already. So did Peter.

“I have to know what happened to my brother. I have two Warlords after me. What would you do if it was a member of your family? One of your brothers?” _She has a point Edward. Any of us would go down there to find out._ I said to him mentally. He knew I was right if his emotions were anything to go off of.

“You’re right Angel. Any of us would go down there to save each other, but you have to understand. As your mates we can’t let you go down there alone. It’s just not going to happen.” Peter said with a tone of finality in his voice.

“NO! I will not let you three be dragged into this mess. She’ll find a way to get you under her thumb again. I can’t be responsible for that. I’m going alone!” She shouted as she jumped up out of my lap causing me to growl.

“No you’re not Isabella and that’s final.” I said as the Major in me came out.

“That’s final? Who the hell do you think you are? You may be the infamous Major of the South, but you don’t control me. Your gift won’t work on me Major and if I wanted to I could make it to where you couldn’t track my scent either if I took off.” Isabella stated.

I knew she was pissed. Hell, I could feel that she was pissed, but there was also that undercurrent of fear. She was afraid for us. She didn’t want her mates to be in that hell hole again, but she had to understand that we felt the same way.

“Sweetheart, we know you don’t want us to get dragged back into this, but can’t you understand that we don’t want that to happen to you either? We don’t want you back in that anymore then you want us back in it. We know we just met you, but we all three love you already. We can figure out some way to resolve this that will satisfy all four of us and keep us all safe. Would that work for you sweetheart?” Edward pleaded with her. By the look on his face he’d follow her anyway, but he wanted her to work with us so the four of us were less likely to get hurt.

“Fine, but don’t expect me to scrap the whole rescue plan altogether. You three are important to me. More important than anyone else, but he is the only family I have left. Benito killed my parents and other siblings. I can’t lose him too. I also want those bitches dead. They hurt me, but they also hurt my mates and no one gets away with hurting what is MINE.” Isabella growled out the last word. It was so hot that the lust coming off the three of us skyrocketed. She knew what she was doing to us if the smirk on her face was anything to go by.

“Angel, now that we have that somewhat settled how about we do introductions? You already know me, Jasper and Edward…” Before he can finish though she interrupts.

“I know everyone here Cowboy. The sisters have very extensive research on all of you. She also has a contact within the local shifter pack you have here. They’ve tried getting me several times since I’ve been in town. Going as far as chasing me to Seattle even though I have gold eyes and they’ve also inflicted damage. I hate being hurt. I don’t know the parameters of the treaty, but doesn’t their “territory” end somewhere?” Isabella asked with agitation in her voice. I could tell she didn’t like being chased anywhere.

“We need to make you a part of our coven so they can’t attack you anymore Darlin’. I don’t want anythin’ happenin’ to you. I know you’re independent and I respect that, but this is for your safety. I couldn’t imagine anythin’ happenin’ to you now that we’ve found you.” I tried explaining to her. I could feel her amusement rolling off of her.

“That’s fine Cowboy. I was kind of hoping that the offer would be extended once you figured out we were mates.” She said shyly while she looked down. I couldn’t believe she thought she had anything to be shy about.

“Carlisle you should call the pack and ask for a meeting so we can get her on the treaty. They’ll see she drinks from animals by her eye color and have no reason to continue pursuing her.” Edward explained, but I had a feeling they weren’t going to stop.

“Oh they won’t stop Cowboy. One or more are working for Maria and she has to have something over them, but the one I’m worried about is a shifter named Jacob. He’s a sadistic son of a bitch and loves torture.” She shuddered at this and Edward growled. I had a feeling he was getting things from her mind that she didn’t want us to know or see.

She puts her hand to Edward’s cheek and whispers an apology to him, but for the life of me I cannot figure out what she’s apologizing for.

“What are you saying sorry for Angel? It’s not as if you asked for any of this.” Peter says while grabbing the hand that isn’t on Edward’s cheek.

“I know, but at the same time I should have ended those bitches when I had the chance. I mean, my brother and I destroyed every damn newborn she had, but left those three alive. Lucy isn’t so bad. She’s following her sister’s leads, but Nettie and Maria are just plain sick as you three know. Carlito is just as bad if not worse. The only Warlord in the South worth working for is Rico. He only turns the dying and doesn’t cull his newborns after the first year. He only defends his very limited territory. I talked both Carlito and Maria out of attacking him several times. I have you three to thank though for inadvertently getting me out from under Benito.”

Just as Isabella finished talking Carlisle walked back into the room with a grim expression on his face.

“What is it Carlisle?” Edward demanded.

“We have a meeting with the pack, but it isn’t to add Isabella to the treaty. They are blaming her for the death of a pack member and imprint in Seattle. The imprint was drained and the pack member was bitten. He died slowly from the venom.” Carlisle explained with a grimace.

“That’s bullshit and you know it Carlisle. Isabella has gold eyes. If she drained the imprint her eyes would be red.” Peter said while standing up to pace.

“Boys! Calm down. This is probably a ploy by Maria’s little puppy to get me back to her. The pack is probably going to try to take me to the Reservation to hold a trial and then the puppy will take me to Maria. Or Maria is waiting around here somewhere, but I haven’t caught her scent.” Isabella explained calmly.

“Sweetheart, we’re not going to let them take you to the Reservation. None of us would be able to go there to help you. Even as your mates we wouldn’t be allowed.” Edward explained to her.

“I know Edward. I had no intention of going with them. Let’s just go and see what we can do about this. Trust me, these pups had no intention of ever holding up to their end of the treaty this time. Ephraim may have been an honorable man, but none of these pups are. My gift has told me that.” Isabella said with a frown. It seemed like she was worried about all of us being that close to the pack.

“I am worried Cowboy. I don’t want my mates or my new family anywhere near those flea ridden mutts. Once you’re my family you’ll always be my family and I protect my family at all costs. Without family you’ve got nothing.” And with that we all took off to the treaty line to see what the pups wanted.


	2. Meeting

**(EPOV)**

We arrived at the treaty line within minutes of leaving the house. The stench of wet dog was heavy in the air. Isabella was tense. She obviously smelled the one she knew and with a nod of her head she confirmed it. She took off her leather jacket and hung it over a nearby branch. With the newly exposed skin you could see all of her scars exposed on her shoulders and arms.

“That’s the point Edward. There’s only one in this pack of mutts that I trust, but if he’s under the Alpha’s command he has to do whatever is ordered of him. He’s attacked me twice due to the command. Although today will be different if they attack me.” She smirked after her last sentence.

“Damn right it will be Angel. You’ve got your mates with you now.” Peter responded while flexing his arms and removing his flannel. I followed suit removing my button up and Jasper did the same. _She has a good plan Edward. Intimidation will work best with the pups._ Jasper thought to me. I couldn’t agree more. It’s about time we show these pups that this treaty isn’t for our protection but theirs.

“Carlisle, I tell you now the pups think that the treaty is protecting you from them instead of the other way around. Our venom is poisonous to them. I’m afraid if they see me with you it might be an “attack now and ask questions never” type of deal. If this does happen I am immensely sorry, but I will defend myself and my mates.” She informed Carlisle without looking at him.

“I understand Isabella. While I do not like fighting I will do what I have to do to protect my mate and my family.” He said and his thoughts mirrored his words.

“Alice you will be blind as soon as they get here. Your foresight will not work, but don’t worry. Now boys if one goes to bite anywhere on my corset let them…” But I didn’t let her finish. Letting them bite her was simply out of the question.

“Like hell I will! No one is getting their teeth anywhere near you.” I yelled. I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but just the thought of her being bitten had my beast rattling his cage to get out.

“Edward honey its ok. Haven’t you noticed the scent of venom around me? My corset is lined with capsules of my own venom. One bite through the supports on it and the venom gets into the wolf’s system resulting in a dead wolf baby.” She tried to soothe me and once she put her hand to my cheek it worked and I started purring.

“I’m sorry sweetheart. I just don’t know what would happen if something happened to you. I know for a fact if you were hurt my beast would come out and no one would be safe besides you, Peter and Jasper.” I explained as I looked down. I didn’t like talking about this, but it didn’t seem so bad talking about it with her. I didn’t know if that was simply because she was my mate or if it was because she had been through the same thing.

“I know baby and I will try my hardest not to get hurt, but you have to understand that it would be the same for me so try to keep yourself in one piece as well. Please?” She pleaded and for the first time since we met I could see the vulnerable girl I imagine she had once been before the change.

“I’ll keep myself as safe as possible sweetheart. I will defend you and my family though. I can’t stand by and let someone hurt you or them.” I explained to her hoping she understood where I was coming from because it was definitely non-negotiable.

“Of course I understand Edward. I’m the same way. I see every vampire standing here as a part of my family now and I will fight to the death to protect them from anyone and anything, but know you three will ALWAYS come first.” She said as she whipped her head back towards the treaty line. She must have smelt them or heard them coming with my gift.

“They’re close.” I hissed out as I went to stand on Isabella’s right side. Jasper was on her left and Peter was behind her with his arms encircling her waist. We were presenting a united front for the mutts and as they came in to view we were all a little shocked to see how big the pack was. I quickly spotted the one that didn’t want to hurt Isabella. I caught his name as Paul and he truly cared about Isabella.

“Hello Sam. I’m glad we could meet, but I want you to know…” But Carlisle never got to finish his sentence because a tall reddish-brown wolf tried to lunge at Jasper, but before he could get to him Isabella left our side and had the giant wolf by his throat.

“Touch one of my mates and you will die mutt. I know your orders are not to kill. Where is Maria?” Isabella growled out at him while tightening her hand just a little bit more on his throat.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you better remove your hand from my Beta’s throat.” Sam threatened which caused the three of us to growl and inch closer to where Isabella was holding the wolf. Before any of us could do anything a small silver wolf lunged at Isabella’s leg and clamped her teeth around her calf muscle. The bite caused Isabella to drop the reddish-brown wolf, but she got in a good kick to the wolf’s jaw breaking it in half before she went down. You could hear the crunch echo through the trees. Jasper, Peter and I rushed over to her side ripping her pant leg to expose the wound. Peter started licking the bite closed while Jasper and I checked her body over for other injuries. We knew the wolf had only gotten in the one bite, but it was purely instinct to check the rest of her.

“I suggest you keep your wolves in line Sam before you have a massacre on your hands. I will not tolerate a wolf attacking my mate. I will not let you harm her again. She has golden eyes. She is not a threat. We know you want to accuse her of attacking the wolf and his imprint in Seattle, but her eyes would be red if she had drained the imprint.” Jasper growled out as he finished his inspection. Peter was done closing the wound and we helped her up. She was having a bit of trouble standing on her leg though which didn’t make sense to us since it was healed.

“Shifter saliva is poisonous to us. It’s not enough to kill us, but it weakens us for a while. I’ll be ok though boys.” She said as she leaned against me. I could see the pain in her eyes and it was just getting me more riled up. I don’t know how much more of this I could take before I completely lost it. Isabella must have read that thought because she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist and kissed the side of my neck and purred to me.

“It’s alright baby. I’m all good now. Let’s get this meeting over with so we can go back to the house.” With that she let go of me and walked closer to the shifter’s. None of us liked that so Jasper, Peter and I followed her.

“My name is Isabella and as my mate said I have golden eyes, but you don’t care about that. I’m guessing your orders are to take me alive to Maria. Am I right?” Isabella asked. I read in the leader’s mind that he was supposed to take her alive, but he wanted to kill her and get the crazy bitch and her army off of his rez.

“Looks like Maria is on the rez sweetheart and he just wants to kill you to get this all over with. The one that attacked you is Leah and she’s Sam’s former girlfriend before he imprinted on her cousin.” I informed our group. Reading the pack mind was fairly interesting, but not enough to soothe my rage at what the little silver wolf had done to my mate.

“Kill me and Maria will massacre the whole reservation Sam. How many are in her army? I’ll gladly kill the bitch for you for what she’s done to us all, but you have to understand Sam that not all of us were like that. I’m not speaking for anyone else in this coven, but I will tell you that at one time I did kill humans. Do I regret it? Hell yes I do, but I did it because otherwise my ass would be a pile of ash by my creator, my sisters or anyone else that has controlled me for the last one three hundred and fifty years or so. As you can see now I have gold eyes which means there’s no way I could have drained the imprint that died. I also didn’t bite the wolf. I don’t take a life for no reason. I broke your Beta’s jaw because he tried to attack my mate. You’d do the same thing if it was your Emily.” Isabella explained as she stood toe to toe with the Alpha. She was magnificent. She showed no fear even though physical Sam towered over her. My mate was short.

“How do you know about my Emily?” Sam asked clearly agitated. He didn’t like anyone knowing about his imprint.

“Maria has extensive files on every supernatural that lives in this area. Actually, she has extensive files on almost every supernatural on this continent.” She explained. _Edward, you need to tell Carlisle to call the Denali’s and see if you can get them down here._ I subtly nodded my head. I’d tell him once we’re done with this little pow-wow.

“I don’t like her having this much information on us. Maria is not at the reservation, but some of her army and her new second in command are there. He had said Maria and her sisters were headed up to Alaska.” Sam explained, but didn’t see the significance of that information, but we all did. It was a flurry of action after that. Everyone pulled out their phones, but it was Isabella that spoke.

“Carlisle, call the Denali’s and tell them to get out of there now! Tell them not to pack anything and just run.” Isabella shouted and she started pacing.

“What’s the significance of Alaska?” The Alpha asked growing impatiently.

“The Cullen’s have family up there. There’s 5 others of our kind.” I explained as I listened in to my mate’s frantic mind.

 _I need to get up there. She’s away from her own territory. I could take her out._ And with that she started to go over battle plans. It looked like she had more knowledge then Jasper, Peter and myself put together.

“You ain’t goin’ up there alone Sug. You can get that idea out of that pretty little head now. Speaking of ideas. Why the hell haven’t you taken care of the enemy Sam? Ya’ll coulda taken them out instead of chasin’ Isabella all the way to Seattle several times.” Peter admonished. He had a very good point and I was curious to know the answer.

“We figured get rid of her and the three fighters of your coven would be gone as well and then we could take you out afterward. The treaty is there for your protection after all.” Sam sneered. He actually believed the shit that was going on in his head.

“Like hell it is you furry little mutt. My family could have taken Ephraim and them out easily. Just like we could now. Your little beta comes at me again and he’ll be dead along with his little imprint Leah.” Isabella growled out which caused the russet wolf and the grey wolf to growl at her which then caused all four of us to growl.

“Enough! The Denali’s say they’ve already picked up Maria’s scent. She’s got Lucy, Nettie and about ten newborns with her.” Carlisle said as he came back to stand with the rest of our family.

“Fucking Hell! That’s it. I’m going up there. You guys can join me or stay here, but I can’t let her get her hands on Demetri’s mate.” Isabella growled out. “Sam, either you can take care of the little army that’s on the reservation yourself or I can when I get back, but I am going to go help my extended family. Get over it. By the way, I’m taking Paul with me.” And with that the large silver wolf joined our side of the treaty line.

“Fine Isabella, but I expect answers when you get back. I’m not kidding.” He growled out. He definitely didn’t like her ordering him around or taking one of his wolves.

“We’ll see wolf boy. How about you respect your elders. I’ve got over 300 years on you.” She laughed. The pack growled and took off. Once they were out of sight we took off headed towards Alaska.


	3. Fighting

**(PPOV)**

“Who is Demetri’s mate Isabella? Furthermore, how do you know?” I asked as we were running. I was on her left, Edward was on her right and Jasper was just a little behind her. I’m guessing he was enjoying the view. As I thought that Edward let out a slight laugh. My suspicions were confirmed when Isabella let out her next question.

“Enjoying the view Major?” She purred out not even looking back at him.

“Of course I am Darlin’. It’s a mighty fine view if I may say so myself.” He growled out.

“Enough you two. Now sweetheart can you answer Peter’s questions?” Edward asked getting us all back on track. I’m guessing Major’s thoughts were starting to get to him otherwise he probably would have let them continue on with their banter.

“Of course I can. Tanya is Demetri’s mate and I know because I am a sponge. I absorb everyone’s powers as soon as my little shield comes in contact with them. I’ve kept my shield down since we made contact, but it was already too late because I had it up right when I walked into the cafeteria. I once ran into a female vampire that had the ability to see anyone’s mate. Since I know Demetri I was able to see his mate and I’ve had dealings with the Denali’s before. I also know who Kate is mated to and who Irina is mated to. I also know Alice’s and Charlotte’s. I can play match maker later if the ladies would like.” At the end of her explanations I heard Alice and Charlotte both say a _Hell Yes_ and so did Isabella. I simply laughed. It would be like those two to think about romance when we were headed into a possible fight.

“I think that’s your answer Sugar.” I said. We were just now entering Denali and we could all smell Maria’s scent along with her sister’s and the newborns. Isabella stopped immediately and closed her eyes taking in deep breaths.

“She has ten newborns with her at the house, but Lucy and Nettie aren’t at the house with her. We’ve got to go now. I smell spilled venom.” And with that she took off. She was fuckin’ fast. It looked like Edward was able to keep up with her, but the rest of us fell behind. She had obviously kept her newborn speed just like Edward had after his year mark.

As we entered the clearing where the Denali house was we were greeted with chaos. Tanya and Irina were on the ground both missing their legs. Isabella was trying to keep the newborns off of them while trying to keep herself from landing in the same position. Edward was holding his own, but his shirt was ripped. Eleazar and Carmen were fighting well together and taking out any newborns that came their way while Kate was shocking them which caused them to hit the ground and then she was dismembering them.

“Fuck!” I heard Isabella hiss out as a newborn came for me. A newborn had come up behind her and ripped her left hand off while she was beheading another newborn. Jasper quickly took care of the one that got a hold of our mate. The Cullen’s were picking up pieces of the newborns and starting a pyre.

“Watch for Isabella’s hand.” Jasper yelled out. Apparently they hadn’t found it yet which caused me to panic a bit until I heard Edward.

“I’ve got it.” Edward yelled and raced over to her to help her put it back on. I raced over once my own newborn was taken care of. I needed to check on my mate. She not only had the ripped off hand, but she had several new bite marks which caused a low growl to form in my chest. I could heard the same thing from Edward.

“Darlin’ you’ve lost too much venom from this wound and the bites to be able to put it back on with your own venom. I can do it for you, but it’s goin’ to hurt like a bitch.” Jasper said as he leaned down to where she was sitting. He wasn’t fairing much better with the growl in his voice.

“I know cowboy. This isn’t my first rodeo you know. I can’t believe I let that little shit get the drop on me like that. God, if I did that down south I’d be dead.” She hissed out as Jasper reattached the severed hand. I cringed when she screamed. We all knew how it felt to have a limb removed. Just as we were about to ask what happened we heard Rose scream. A newborn had gotten overlooked and bitten Rose on her shoulder. It didn’t look like she could get the damn thing off of her. Before anyone had time to react Isabella was up and behind the newborn with her teeth sunk into its neck. It quickly let go to deal with the vampire that was attacking it. Isabella quickly jerked her head and removed the newborns head.

“Teach you to fuck with my family.” She spat out.

“Thank you Isabella.” Rose said as she ran up to her and hugged her.

“No problem Rosalie. No one messes with family. Freakin’ little shits need to learn this.” She said as Rosalie let go of her and she tossed the newborn into the closest pyre.

“You okay Darlin’?” I asked her as I came up behind her. I picked up her hand that had just been reattached to inspect it. She had full use of it again, but had another scar that was still pink.

“I’m okay cowboy. Not the first time I’ve been torn up and it won’t be the last.” But before she could say anything else her cellphone rang.

“Demetri! Where the hell are you? Do you know how worried I’ve been you little shit? You disappear without as much as a fuck you and no call. Ass!” She seethed. I found this slightly funny. She was tearing him a new one.

 _“Sorry sis, but it’s not like I can call every time I go missing. Where the hell are you? I’ve been with the Volturi the last 6 months. We’re having problems with the Romanians again. They’ve got over 200 hundred newborns at their castle in Romania and we’ve heard that isn’t even half of their army. We’re kind of screwed if we can’t get back up.”_ We heard him say through the phone. This was not good.

“Well shit. I’ve got my own problems with Maria and her sisters. We just took out a small contingent of newborns that were going after the Denali’s up in Alaska. What is it with these idiots?” She responded back.

 _“Why the hell is she going after them? I know she’s got all that information, but what’s the point? The only ones with talent are Eleazar and Kate, but they’ve never fought in a war. Shouldn’t she be going after the Cullen’s and Whitlock’s instead? Or even after Edward Masen.”_ He questioned. Isabella growled when he mentioned our family and she got even louder when he singled Edward out.

“Shut the hell up Demetri. Peter, Jasper and Edward just so happen to be my mates. You know what that means. Everything just got even more personal for me. Something isn’t right though Dem. Maria’s always been crazy, but to come this far North herself is out of her regular element. She usually stays in the South and lets others do her dirty work for her. For her to come up here is out of her norm and making me very edgy. What’s going on Dem?” She asked as she eyed everyone around her. I could almost guess what was going through her mind. She was trying to think of ways to keep everyone she cared about safe. It was the same thing going through my mind and I could guarantee it was going through Edward’s and Jasper’s minds as well.

 _“I don’t know what’s going on Iz, but it’s something serious. I’d feel better if you and your mates got the hell out of America right now. Take the Cullen’s, Whitlock’s and Denali’s somewhere safe. Aro’s even sent the wives away. You know it’s bad when the wives are sent outside of the castle.”_ With that sentence my “knower” went off saying we needed to move now. Isabella looked me in the eyes and nodded. She jerked her head to the others. I got the hint. She wanted me to get them moving and get them moving now.

“Alright people. We need to leave now. I don’t know if you’ve been listening to Isabella’s conversation, but Demetri is her brother. He is also part of the Elite Guard of the Volturi. Aro has sent the wives away from the castle which means shit is getting real. Demetri has warned us out of America. I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to take his advice. I would even if he wasn’t my mate’s brother. Maria has already attacked ya’ll once and I know she will again. Pack what you can fit in a backpack that you can carry on your back. We’ll be headed back to Forks to get stuff for us and then we’ll figure it out from there. We’re going to be a big coven travelling together. We’ll draw attention. Hopefully we won’t run into anymore shit.” I said as the Denali’s ran to pack clothes. Tanya and Irina would need to hunt along with Isabella, but we could do that on the way back to Washington. I walked back over to my mate who was now surrounded by my brother’s. She was very stressed.

 

**(JPOV)**

I felt my mate’s fear spike. It sounded like the Romanians had decided to rise up against not only the Volturi, but any coven that drank from animals. They viewed us as abominations to the vampire race. They also wanted to expose us to humans so we would be out in the open. Most thought this was a very bad idea, but there were some of our species that liked it. I couldn’t see the benefit of it. Yeah we could stay in one place longer, but that also meant that our feeding habits would be known and be under scrutiny.

“Dem, do you realize what the hell that would do to all of us? I mean we’d have the freedom of not hiding anymore, but with today’s technology they could kill us in minutes. They have flame throwers now for Christ sake. It isn’t like it was when we were human.” Isabella was ranting to her brother. She was scared, but determined. She was a true warrior at heart just as much as me or any one of my brothers. Edward seemed to agree if his emotions were anything to go off of.

“Of course I agree. She kept fighting with her hand missing. She protected Tanya and Irina while fighting off newborns. She got one off of my back before you guys showed up. The damn thing had his teeth ready to rip my head off. I’d go in to battle with her any time. We’ve heard stories about her before, but they’re nothing compared to seeing her in action.” Edward said reverently. He worshipped her which was a feat in and of itself. He had the hardest time with our past, but he was a great man. The three of us have had each other’s backs for decades.

“I would too brother, but I’m hoping another battle won’t be necessary. I doubt I’m going to be granted that wish though.” I sighed out as I ran my hands over my face. I knew we’d be fighting again. From what it sounded like it was inevitable. As I looked over to our Isabella she looked close to tears, if it were possible. As I was thinking this she hung up her phone.

“Fuck we need to go and I mean go now.” Isabella said frantically.

“Where are we headed Darlin’?” I asked as she came up to us. Her emotions were all over the place and they were hard to get a read on.

“I honestly have no idea Cowboy. Honestly, it would be best to live as nomads right now. The Romanians have over 200 newborns at their base in Romania, but the Volturi don’t think that’s all. They happen to think that Maria and Carlito are helping them. Intel says Maria has six different camps set up with over 150 newborns at each camp and Carlito has double that. There’s a lot more to this than any of us know though. I just have this feeling that this is all bigger than just the damn domination of humans. Why so many just to take out the Volturi?” She pondered at the end. I didn’t know how the Denali’s and the rest of my family were going to take the whole nomad thing. None of them have ever lived like that really. Well, except Eleazar and Carmen.

“We’ll default to you Isabella. You’ve never steered us wrong before.” Tanya said as she came walking out of the house with a campers backpack on her back. The rest of the Denali’s all nodded in agreement. My family looked apprehensive however.

“Can we take cars? I mean, that would be alright, wouldn’t it?” Rose asked. She didn’t like not having any luxury. This was going to be a real wakeup call for her and most of the family.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t. Cars will slow us down plus we have to have the money for gas which will require using bank accounts. Dem said that the Volturi think all accounts of “Veggie Vamps” are being watched. I know this will be inconvenient, but so would being dead.” She deadpanned. Honestly, the Cullen’s need to learn to trust a veteran of the Southern Wars. They’ve never really trusted Edward, Peter or myself either. As this thought ran through my head Edward and Isabella looked at me. _It’s true._ They both nodded.

“We’ll follow you Isabella. We have no reason to believe that you would lead us wrong.” Carlisle said. Finally stepping up to be the coven leader I see. I love Carlisle, but he is in no way a coven leader.

“Now that that’s settled let’s go. We need to be back in Forks and gone before tomorrow morning. I also need to have my chat with Sam. What I want to do is have someone carry a pack with money in it. I can clear out my account that I started in Forks. You all can clear any accounts you want because I doubt the money will be there when we get back. The Romanians seem to be working towards something, but no one knows what. This has to be more than just taking over the vampire world. Paul, have you heard anything from the Pack?” Isabella asked as she looked at the shifter. He hadn’t phased back to wolf since we left.

“No I haven’t, but I haven’t phased since we left either. I’ll do that now.” And with that he phased, but as soon as he was a wolf he tossed his head back in a mournful howl.

“What is it Paul?” Isabella asked frantically as she ran up to him. He put his big, furry head on her shoulder and had golf ball sized tears running down his muzzle.

“He’s too upset right now to shift back sweetheart. It seems that there were more newborns then Sam thought. The humans on the reservation have been wiped out and the pack is still fighting.” Edward explained, but once she heard that she took off.

“Shit she’s fuckin’ fast. How the hell does she do that?” I asked as we took off after her. Edward was in the lead, but even he couldn’t catch up to her since she had the head start that she did.

“What the hell is going on with this world right now? I mean seriously?” Tanya asked as we were running. I couldn’t answer her though. I had no idea what was going on. Shit seems to be hitting the fan from all sides.

It took us over an hour to run back to La Push and when we got there it looked like a war zone. There were fires everywhere and body parts were laying around, both human and vampire. I noticed that Sam’s Emily was one of the ones that was actually still alive. She was huddled next to a tree with Sam standing in front of her. I approached them cautiously, but Sam still growled. I knew why he was growling at me so I didn’t take it personally. I would be doing the same thing if it were my mate.

“It’s alright Sam. It’s me, Jasper. I’ll help you protect your Emily. Once we dispose of this little contingent we’ll get out of here. We’ll make sure everyone that is left is safe. Alright?” I asked while beheading a newborn that was trying to bite Sam. He simply nodded his head as he lunged for another newborn that was trying to get around him to Emily. We heard a roar and I noticed several newborns had Peter pinned down and were biting him. Isabella rushed over and took two off of him while Edward took another one leaving Peter to deal with one. He quickly beheaded the little shit and tore his limbs off.

“Fuck that hurt.” He said as Isabella came up to him. She was licking the wounds that she could reach closed so he would stop losing venom. He was hissing, but also running his hands through her hair letting her know it was okay for her to continue. I was distracted enough that a newborn was able to come up behind me and bit into my bicep tearing a chunk of the skin off.

“Fuck!” I growled as I backhanded the little shit into Edward.

“Fucker got you, didn’t he?” Edward laughed as he beheaded the little shit. He thought it was funny.

“Yeah, he got me. Damn it. That shit hurts.” Just as I said this Peter and Isabella walked up. Peter had a few more bite marks and so did Isabella. The last fact pissed me the hell off. Fuckin’ newborns and their damn biting. Isabella picked up the missing piece of my bicep and held it so it would fuse back on.

“Damn Darlin’. A little more warnin’ next time would be kinda nice.” I said as I hissed.

“What would be the fun in that Cowboy?” She laughed.

“Hey Isabella. We’ve got someone here for you.” Tanya and Irina called out. All of us looked over toward them and what we saw had our venom boiling. Lucy was secured between the two. Isabella growled ferociously and her eyes turned onyx. I let the Major take over and I noticed my brother’s let their other egos take over as well.

**(Captain’s POV)**

That bitch had the nerve to leave her sister behind. The family had yet to notice that they were dealing with the world’s four deadliest vampires. Peter, Jasper, Edward and Isabella were no longer here. In their place were Captain, Major, Sergeant and General. Carlisle and Eleazar were the first two to notice and they quickly dropped to their knees with their necks bared. Everyone else soon followed suit including the wolves.

“We have such good followers, don’t we Captain?” The General purred out.

“We sure do Darlin’. Now, what are we going to do with this little bitch?” I asked as I ran my hand through her hair. Seeing her like this was getting me hard and I think she knew it because she looked down at my crotch, back to me and then winked. Little vixen.

“Focus Captain!” Major barked out. General just snorted.

“I’ll get you back for that.” I growled out and then stepped into formation with the other three.

“Well well well. What do we have here?” General growled out as we started to move forward a bit.

“Looks to me like we got ourselves a little prisoner Darlin’. What do you think Captain? Sergeant?” Major asked. He was taunting the little bitch. Lucy loved to torture all of us after we were punished and never had any mercy.

We both just nodded. Too angry to say anything more, but also wanting to make sure we answered.

“I think we might Major. Remove her limbs girls. She won’t be needing them.” General ordered. Normally Major wouldn’t let anyone take the reins, but this was different. He wanted to see what our girl would do. Irina and Tanya quickly removed Lucy’s arms and legs.

“Should we burn them General?” Tanya asked as she moved closer to a pyre that had been lit earlier.

“What do you think boys? Should we burn her limbs? It’s not like we’re ever going to put her back together again.” She said as she walked up to Sergeant and let her hands roam over his chest. Damn it I wanted that to be me. Sergeant started purring more and more as her hands made more passes. Each pass got closer to his jeans and the very prominent bulge there. I was getting jealous.

“Don’t worry Captain. I haven’t forgotten about you. Once we get all this shit settled here and get moving we’ll have time for the four of us on a hunt.” She purred and then turned back to Lucy.

“Where’s our sister headed Lucy?” The General asked. I knew Lucy wasn’t going to say anything yet and if the General had my gift then she knew it too.

“I’m not telling you shit you traitorous bitch. You’ve taken our sister’s pets and…” But she didn’t get any more out before a slap was heard throughout the clearing. It didn’t hurt, but it was very demeaning.

“Call my mate’s pets again and I’ll rip out your shriveled up heart then I’ll force it down your throat.” She growled. Damn that was sexy.

“Let’s move her down to the beach girls. I’ve got an idea.” She said as they walked off toward the beach. It was visible from here, but just out of our hearing range if they weren’t yelling.

“We’ll stay here General and clean up any missing pieces.” I said as I watched her walk away. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her ass.

“Damn Captain. You keep that shit up and I’m going to be humping the nearest tree.” Major growled out.

“I can’t help it. Damn mind reader got a rub down over there and got my mind wandering.” I said as we started picking up stray pieces. Sergeant was laughing, but I could tell he was uncomfortable. She had teased him and then quit without helping him out. The wolves had turned back into their human forms and were helping pick up stray limbs.

“What do you think our next move is going to be? I know she said the life of a nomad, but where? We very well can’t go through Texas or Mexico because of Maria and Carlito, but South America would be a good spot. Plenty of jungle for our diet unless we go back to human.” Sergeant said as he looked around making sure none of the wolves would hear us.

“It would honestly make sense. We’re stronger on human blood and if we’re going up against the shit Dem said we would we’re going to need all the strength we can get. We’ll have problems with the Cullen’s though. Carlisle’s never had human blood and neither has Rose. Em, Alice and Esme have had their slips, but that’s it. They’ve never willingly taken a human life. We could go with the low life’s, but I have a feeling Carlisle would have a problem with even them.” Major said. I had a feeling he was right, but before I could say anything we heard a scream come from the beach. At first we thought it was Lucy, but then we heard Irina and Tanya scream as well.

“Shit, that first scream was Isabella.” Sergeant said as he took off.

 

**(Major’s POV)**

What greeted us on the beach made me growl out. Irina was missing her legs and was propped up against a drift log. Tanya was missing both arms and was next to Irina. Isabella was surrounded by six newborns. Four of them had a limb each, one had his hands around her neck and the other was taunting her. They were so caught up that they didn’t notice both covens behind them. They were slowly pulling her limbs making the muscles and tendons tear causing her to scream out and whimper. I looked at Sergeant. _We have to do something before they tear her head off. It’ll take her longer to heal then we have if they get her head. We can let her limbs fuse back on as one of us carries her, but she’s going to need human blood._ I said to him mentally. He simply nodded. I ran for the two newborns that were on her left while Sergeant went for the two on her right. I noticed Captain going for the one that was at her head and Eleazar went for the one that was taunting her. I heard the sound of metal tearing, but I didn’t know if it was the others tearing apart the newborns or if it was Isabella. I couldn’t focus on that right now as I had my own fight to deal with.

The first newborn was dispatched easily. The second was a bit older and had a little more experience. I tore off his right arm first which seemed to be his more dominant one to use. His left soon followed and then his head. I threw them into the fire that someone had started and then looked for Isabella. Captain had her head cradled in his lap while Sergeant was putting her left leg back on. I spared a glance to the Denali sisters to see that they were being tended to by the Cullen’s.

“General are you alright?” I asked as I walked back over to the three. She simply nodded.

“She can’t talk yet. She’ll need human blood to heal Major. She’s not going to heal on animal blood and the quicker we get it to her the better.” Captain said as he attached both arms at the same time. Isabella let out a silent scream.

“I’m sorry Angel. I know this hurts like a bitch and if I could take the pain from you I would, but I can’t.” I noticed Peter had come back to the forefront of their mind. Edward seemed to be back as well. I guess I should let Jasper back too.

 

**(EPOV)**

It seemed we all came back at the same time once we were through with the newborns. Isabella needed our help. When Major and Sergeant attacked the newborns that were holding Isabella her limbs were pulled off in the process. We all knew it was the only way, but we still felt like shit for doing it.

“How are you feeling sweetheart? I know it hurts like hell and I’m so sorry that we had to do that.” I said as I ran my hands over her looking and feeling for any other injuries that we might have missed. She took my hand and began writing _I’m ok. Need blood_ on my hand. I knew she couldn’t talk yet. The bastards had pulled her head hard enough to damage her windpipe. Her shield had automatically gone back over her mind so I couldn’t read her either.

“Carlisle! Isabella is going to need human blood. She can’t heal enough with animal. We all know animal blood dulls our instincts and our abilities. She needs it and in all honesty I’m not going to let her suffer a longer healing period just for your sensibilities.” I told him. I was honestly tired of hiding myself, but I was only doing this right now because my mates’ health depended on it. I saw Peter and Jasper nod along with what I was saying. I had no problem feeding from criminals, but the Cullen’s would have never allowed it. We could have worn contacts for the red eyes, but it wasn’t allowed.

“I have some donated blood at the house. We need to stop there anyway. If you can carry her that far we’ll get the blood for her so she can drink it while we pack.” Carlisle said as I picked up Isabella. She whimpered when I touched her legs.

“I’m sorry sweetheart. I know it hurts. We’re going to get you some blood and then you’ll be as good as new. Will you allow me to carry you for a little bit on our journey?” I asked as I looked down at her. I felt her move her hand to my chest, which had long since lost its shirt, and write _Yes_.

“Thank you sweetheart. Just rest now. We’ll be back to the house soon.” And with that we lapsed into silence as we all took off for the house.

 

 


	4. Moving

**(EPOV)**

We made it to the house fairly quickly. I went straight to the couch and sat down with Isabella in my arms. I had her body in my lap with her head resting on the arm of the couch. Jasper came over and put her legs in his lap causing her to whimper and me to let out an involuntary growl.

“I’m sorry Darlin’. I didn’t mean to cause you anymore pain then you’re already in.” He said as he looked at me. _I’m sorry Edward. I didn’t mean to hurt her more. I think most of the damage was done to her legs and windpipe. What do you think?_ He thought to me. He was probably right.

I simply nodded. I didn’t want to think about it right now. I just wanted Carlisle to hurry up with the damn blood. We’d all gotten more bites and injuries in the second fight then we did in the first. We were all thirsty, but she was our main priority. We’d deal with our own thirst once hers was sated. Finally Carlisle came in with 7 bags of heated blood. He handed them to us so that we could feed Isabella.

“Let me help you sweetheart. Just relax.” I said as I ripped open the first bag and put it to her mouth. It was gone in seconds. I noticed she kept her eyes closed. I had a feeling it had to do with her eyes and my feeling was confirmed when Peter spoke up.

“Now Angel there’s no reason for you to do that. We know you’ll have red eyes. I think they’ll look sexy. We ain’t gonna judge you for em. ” Peter said as he gently caressed her cheek. She raised one of her hands to my chest and wrote _Tell him I know._

“She says she knows Peter.” I told him as he nodded. _Do you think she’ll be able to talk soon?_ He asked in my head, but I honestly didn’t have an answer. These types of injuries weren’t very common even when you got your head ripped off. That type of injury fused back together quickly once the head was reattached and the vampire had blood in their system. Suddenly we heard a phone going off. My little mate opened her eyes panicked. She reached into her pocket to pull out her phone and I noticed it flashed Demetri’s name.

“Do you want me to answer it Darlin’?” Jasper asked. She nodded frantically.

“Hello?”

_“Who is this? Where’s my sister?”_

“This is one of your sisters mate’s Jasper Whitlock. Is this Demetri?

_“Yes, this is her brother Demetri. Where is my sister?_

“We were attacked in La Push by Lucy and her newborns. Isabella was severely injured. We’ve got her drinking blood now as all of her limbs were ripped off, but her windpipe has been damaged. We don’t know how long that’s going to take to heal.”

_“Shit! I can’t believe that bitch got a hold of her again. Is she dead at least?”_

“I’m not sure. Our first priority was Isabella as I’m sure you can understand. Isabella had her limbs ripped off and burned before she was attacked so that’s something at least.”

_“Yes, I can understand that. We need Isabella in Volterra. Is there any way she can come?”_

 

He looked at Isabella who was nodding her head.

 

“Yes, she’ll be there, but so will we. There will be at least 3 of us, maybe more.”

_“That’s fine. The Volturi jet is in Boston. Can you make it there? I would advise not to take any commercial flights. Somehow they’re all being monitored. We’ve lost several lower guard members already.”_

“Thank you for the advice. We will travel on foot to Boston and be in Volterra as soon as possible.”

_“Thank you. Please take care of my sister. Goodbye.”_

 

“Well, your brother doesn’t have the best phone etiquette.” Jasper said while chuckling. By this time Isabella had drank 4 bags of blood. She lifted her hand to my chest again to write. _You three have the last please._

“She wants us to have the last 3 bags.” I said as I looked at my brothers. We all nodded and downed the bags quickly. We knew Carlisle would be disappointed in us, but honestly this would make us stronger and we wouldn’t be a target at this point, at least with the Romanians. If the Romanian’s were targeting golden eyes then we needed to not fit the bill for the assholes.

“What are you three doing?” Carlisle asked as he came into the room. His eyes were wide and he looked alarmed by our red eyes. I knew this was going to be a hard sell.

“We are saving our own asses. What are the odds that this shit isn’t going to get deeper and more dangerous? I don’t know about the other males here, but I’m not going to take the risk of not being able to protect my mate against human drinkers again. You know we are weaker than they are. I don’t see the problem of culling a few criminals on our travels.” I said as I looked at my brothers and our mate. Maybe if we had been on human blood we could have protected her better. I’m sure Jasper could feel my guilt. _It’s alright Edward. None of us thought this would happen. You’ve got the right idea. I’m behind you 100%._ Jasper said in my mind. _I’m behind you Edward. We need to protect her._ Peter said looking at our tiny mate.

“I agree with Edward. In the Southern Wars we were strong, but while the animal blood helps us retain our humanity and allows us to blend in it does not allow us to protect our mates very effectively against vampires that do drink human blood.” Jasper said as he looked down at our mate. Her eyes were glistening with tears that would never fall. From his mind I could tell that she was feeling guilty. From her mind, that was once again open to me, I could tell that she thought she was causing problems within our family. I knew that she was wrong. So did Peter and Jasper. This was a long time coming. We loved our family, but something had to give with our diet since we found our mate and our world was going to war. We were soldiers and we would need our strength.

“Now sweetheart there’s no reason to cry. Everything is alright. You have done nothing wrong. We are simply taking the actions that need to be taken to ensure we all survive. Once you’re strong enough we’ll have four very strong fighters that all have survived the Southern Vampire Wars.” I said as I caressed our mate’s cheek. She had to know this was true. _I know._ She wrote on my chest. I could hear her in my mind, but I think she liked writing it on my chest.

“Carlisle we love our family, but you have to understand what it’s like feeling too weak to protect our mate. Especially for us after everything we’ve survived. If we had been on human blood Isabella would not have gotten hurt or at least not this bad. We’re too weak like this. Animal blood is a great substance when you’re not fighting, but like it or not all of us are going to be fighting soon. From what we could get from Demetri the supernatural world is going to be at war soon which means we’ll be going up against vampires, shape shifters, demons, angels and Children of the Moon. This is going to be one hell of a fight and who knows when it will end or how it will end. We can get blood from blood banks and while we’re on the road we can drain criminals. With Edward’s mind reading we’ll know who the scum of the Earth is. We used to hunt that way before we found the family.” Jasper explained. I knew Carlisle wasn’t going to like this and from his thoughts he was blaming Isabella and Demetri.

“This isn’t their fault Carlisle. This is the Romanian’s fault and possibly Maria’s. We knew she’d come for us one day. Why do you think we trained you all to fight?” I said as I looked around the room at the rest of the family that came in.

“My coven will follow any advice the veteran’s give us. Isabella has never steered us wrong before and I won’t take her advice for granted now. I know Edward, Jasper and Peter would never lead us down the wrong path either. The path may not be the easiest one, but I know it will be the one that keeps as many of us alive as possible. We will follow their lead.” Tanya said and her coven nodded their heads agreeing with her. She had a great respect for Isabella and so did the rest of her family.

“I don’t know about you Carlisle, but I would like to stay alive and I would like my mate to stay alive as well. We’ll be following any advice Jasper, Peter, Edward and Isabella give us.” Emmett said as he brought Rosalie closer to his side. She didn’t look thrilled, but I could tell from her mind that she would do anything to keep Emmett with her. She didn’t want to see him get hurt the way Isabella had been hurt. She held sympathy for us because she couldn’t imagine going through what we were going through right now.

Alice simply nodded. I had a feeling her mate would be a human drinker anyway and wouldn’t allow her to be on an animal diet. She must have seen my decision to tell her this because she suddenly went into a vision. _I know Edward, but I can’t see who my mate is._ She said in her mind as she came out of the vision. I simply nodded. Isabella knew who her mate was. She also knew who Charlotte’s was as well. She had promised to play matchmaker when she got the chance. I had a feeling that Charlotte was mated to Felix. It just seemed logical. I’d have to ask her about it once we had some time alone. _We need to go._ Isabella wrote on my chest. I could see the urgency in her eyes. She wanted to be gone and soon. We also had the remaining shifters coming with us so that might slow us down somewhat.

“I know sweetheart,” I said looking around the room. “But we need to get everything packed that we need to take. We need passports, IDs, money and blood. Isabella is going to need more before we reach the jet and I’m not sure she’ll be able to hunt on her own.” I said as I looked down on my mate. She was cuddled up on my lap and Jasper was running his hands through her hair as Peter simply held her hand.

“I’ve got everything packed Edward. We’re all set.” Carlisle said as he pulled Esme into his side. He still hadn’t decided whether he was going to drink human blood or not. I know he was worried that if he tasted it he wouldn’t be able to go back on animal blood once this was all over. He was questioning his control and honestly so was I. It was easier to resist something that you had never tasted before. Esme simply wanted her family to be safe and would do whatever it took to ensure that.

“Maybe it’s time we stopped pretending to be human Carlisle. Maybe that’s what this war is going to teach us. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved living the way we do, except repeating high school all the time, but it is hard. We haven’t been able to be ourselves for a very long time. Honestly, if we were on human blood we probably would have been able to resist it easier.” Peter said as he got up and helped me to my feet since I had Isabella tucked into my arms. I maneuvered her onto my back and we all went out the door.

“This is going to be a long journey and we need to stick together. Buddy up and stay with that person. Obviously mates are going to stay together, but the unmated people need to have someone as well. Watch each other’s backs even if the person isn’t paired up with you.” Jasper ordered and with that we took off into the surrounding forest with the shifters behind us watching our backs.


End file.
